The Makkah Agreement for Joint Defence, currently a 3-nation pact between Türkiye, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, could expand to include other countries across the region and the wider Muslim world. Turkish Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmuş made this announcement at a reception in Ankara held to mark Saudi Arabia’s National Day.
Kurtulmuş expressed hope that the agreement would develop on solid foundations and grow into a more effective defence arrangement through the participation of other regional and Islamic countries. He described closer Türkiye-Saudi Arabia cooperation as important for regional stability and called on countries in the region to work more closely amid rising tensions.
The Makkah Agreement was signed on Aug. 7 by Türkiye, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan. It includes a collective-defence clause, treating an armed attack on one member as an attack on all three. The pact is structured around collective deterrence and defence cooperation.
At the first meeting of the Strategic Political and Defence Committee, held in Istanbul on Aug. 31, the foreign and defence ministers and military chiefs of all three countries agreed to further institutionalise their cooperation. They decided to establish a permanent secretariat in Saudi Arabia, to be headed initially by a Pakistani secretary-general for a term of three years. They also agreed to strengthen defence capabilities through joint technology development.